Can Sims help the Eagles' blitz?

Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com

Posted:
Saturday, June 12, 2010, 11:03 AM

The Eagles made their selections in April's draft with the idea of getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks front and center.

At the media chalk talk event a couple months ago, general manager Howie Roseman even referenced the Giants team that won the Super Bowl, saying that they didn't have the best secondary, but could get to the quarterback.

While it would be great for the Birds to be able to rely on their front four to get that pressure, we all know this is still a blitzing defense.

So as we continue to monitor how the defensive line rotation is going to shake out, it's important to also keep an eye on the linebackers and defensive backs to see how comfortable they are when their number is called to blitz.

Which bring us to Ernie Sims, who is likely to be one of the Birds' new starters on defense in 2010. The Eagles acquired Sims from the Lions in the offseason, and he got all the first-team reps at weak-side linebacker during last week's OTAs. He's also been one of two linebackers on the field in nickel packages.

I caught up with Sims for a quick Q&A last week. Here's what he had to say:

Q: How are you picking up the defense?

Sims: It's coming along pretty good. Like I said before, I needed to get as much information as possible so that during this next month, I can be studying and get ready for training camp.

Q: What's been the most challenging part?

A: It's just different terminology. The blitzes are pretty much the same, but just different ways to teach the coverages and everything. That's where I've got to improve.

Sheil Kapadia is in his fifth season writing about the Eagles and the NFL for philly.com. His earliest
memories as a sports fan include several trips to Veterans Stadium with
his Dad. He's not a beat writer or an Insider, but is here to
discuss the NFL 365 days a year. E-mail him at skapadia@philly.com or
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